


Milkshake Mayhem

by Maesonry



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boys Being Boys, Fluff, Gen, Give Me Milkshakes or Give Me Death, Headcanon, Humor, Inspired by Fanart, Lactose Intolerance, M/M, Pre-Canon, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 14:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21055994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maesonry/pseuds/Maesonry
Summary: Steve Harrington didn’t get scared easily. Well, no, maybe that was a lie. But that was alright, because no one else needed to know that. Mostly. Whatever. Look, the important thing was that Steve was cool, okay? Cool as a cucumber. The most at ease sailor that Scoops Ahoy has ever employed.But then Jake collapsed onto the ground, and Steve screamed.A story in which Jake wants milkshakes, Steve tries to prevent this, and Robin doesn’t get paid enough to deal with this.





	Milkshake Mayhem

Steve Harrington didn’t get scared easily. Well, no, maybe that was a lie. But that was alright, because no one else needed to know that. Mostly. Whatever. Look, the important thing was that Steve was cool, okay? Cool as a cucumber. The most at ease sailor that Scoops Ahoy has ever employed. 

But then Jake collapsed onto the ground, and Steve screamed.

Right, back it up, back it up by a lot. 

It was a normal day. A boring day, but that also meant a normal day, and recently, Steve was pretty okay with boring days every now and again. Working at Scoops Ahoy helped break up summer break, espeically now that it was more of a permanent break, with him trying to figure out what to do now that he’d graduated. Plus, his friends could come in to see him at work, and if he was really lucky, Jake might come by for Steve to bug him during lunch break. Which Steve really hoped would happen today, because- well. Because. Steve didn’t have to explain himself.

“Steve!” Robin voice was muffled by the door, but Steve’s head still lifted, waiting to catch what she was shouting. It was a little more garbled than the rest, but still there, “Jake’s here!”

Steve’s impulse control was a negative amount, and he scrambled away from the counter, shooting out the kitchen to the front area. Robin rolled her eyes, and Steve pretended not to notice because, uh, _Jake was here_. Which was much more important.

True to her word, Jake _was_ here. Sitting in a corner booth, away from everyone else but still in view of Steve. It only took two frantic waves until Jake noticed and waved back, and Steve gave a triumphant fist pump, before spinning back around. 

Robin snorted. 

“What?” Steve replied, defensive, “Y’know he gets nervous around people. Had to make sure he was okay.”

“Whatever you say, Harrington,” her voice was teasing with laughter hidden in it. Steve crossed his arms and leaned back, but he was smiling too. It lasted for only a moment, though, before Steve’s brow furrowed and he frowned. He opened his mouth, closed it, then made a strangled noise that might’ve been frustration. Robin was fluent in Harrington-speak, though. 

“I won’t serve him any milkshakes,” she assured, then dug around under the counter to pull up a handmade sign taped to flimsy cardboard. It said one word: Jake. And then, under the word was a milkshake, with a red x obscuring it.

It was the most beautiful sign that Steve had ever made, of course, and he was glad she would be putting it up. He nodded.

“Come on, go, you have to get back,” Robin threw a crumpled napkin at Steve, “Go. You’re scaring the customers with your face.”

Steve lingered in the doorway, despite the volley of napkins, “I’m taking my lunch break soon!”

“Yeah, in an hour!” the next napkin landed straight in his face, “Go!”

The door swung closed. But Steve was still smiling as he went to work, filling out the orders that he’d been uh, powering up for. Not neglecting, since that word no longer existed in the Republic of Steve. Of which he was the eternal president. The minutes seemed to go by so slowly, though. Like... burnt sugar, which was also really hard to scrub out of pans actually. It took forever, and this was taking forever. Steve wanted to scream just a little. Or a lot. Whatever. He scooped some more ice cream and jittered in place like the world’s weirdest ice cream making robot, and kept sneaking glances out to where he knew Jake was.

Augh.

Aaaaaaaugh.

“One milkshake, coming right up,” Robin’s voice drifted in through the spaces of the door. Steve perked up, and a moment later, smiled at the order. Dustin’s favorite milkshake. Dustin was here too! Maybe Steve could turn his lunch break into a job-over-now break. Robin would cover for him, right? He was dying to show Jake around the arcade again, and Dustin wanted to see it too, so...

Right. Milkshake. Steve went through the motions, but really carefully this time, because he actually knew the person who was getting the milkshake so he cared about making it Top Notch. The kinda stuff that other sailors at Scoops Ahoy would totally be like “ohhh you’re so cool and amazing, dude,” about. 

“One milkshake,” Steve called back, stepping out of the kitchen. Yep, there was Dustin, waiting at the counter. 

“Harrington!” he greeted. Steve set the milkshake down.

“Milkshake man now. It’s a tough job but, someone has to do it,” he looked to Robin, “Wow, Robin, what a surprise to see you here actually I have something to ask you-“

Vaguely, Steve registered that Dustin had taken the milkshake from the counter. But Steve failed to notice where, exactly, the milkshake was being transported to. Or who. Steve was too busy heckling Robin to cover for his shift that he didn’t see Dustin giving the milkshake to Jake.

But then Steve turned.

“Oh no.”

There, standing, was Jake. Holding the milkshake. Staring directly at Steve. Time seemed to slow. Steve felt his breath hitch, and his body tense, eyes going wide and voice faltering. Robin blinked. Dustin stared in confusion that soon graduated to uncertainty as he registered that Something Wasn’t Quite Right.

“Jake...” Steve’s voice was careful and completely calm, totally, “What do you have?”

Jake blinked. The ghost of a smile on his face, as he replied, “A milkshake.” Jake’s lips were only a few inches from the straw. He still held eye contact with Steve. There was that same completely dead tired expression on his face, as always, but vaguely triumphant this time. The milkshake drifted closer.

“Jake.”

Dustin was inching away from Jake. Robin was ignoring everything. Steve had a hand on the counter, the other one still in the air, trying to stop this.

“Jake-“

Jake’s mouth wrapped around the straw. He sucked. 

“No!” Steve vaulted over the counter, but Jake was quicker, already running out of the shop. Henderson looked just slightly shocked. That was fine, Steve trusted him. Or maybe he didn’t, actually, since his friend had given Jake a milkshake. A milkshake! They even had a sign now for specifically the opposite! 

“Jake, stop!” Steve shouted, sprinting after his friend. But Jake was actually pretty fast when he wanted to be, and, the more they both ran, the more Steve realized- with growing horror- what was happening: Jake was chugging the milkshake. Because he knew that, if Steve caught up, the milkshake would be ejected from the equation. So Jake was obviously trying to drink it all at once. While running. 

So Steve stopped. Jake stopped too. And Jake turned to face his friend, the last vestiges of the milkshake being sucked through the straw, and he still held eye contact. His body posture said completely laid back, and actually pretty pleased, because he loved milkshakes.

Casually, he threw the empty cup into a nearby trash can.

Steve took a tentative step forward.

“Jake...” Steve’s voice was incredibly cautious, almost gentle, “Uh, bud... how are you feeling there?”

Jake considered the question. Then he shrugged, “Fine, actually-“

He stopped. A pale seemed to pass over his face. Abruptly, Jake’s expression cycled through every single stage in the Five Stages of Grief, seemed to settle on a vague sort acceptance, and then he fell pitched to the ground. Not even a noise, just a slight oof, and there he went. 

Steve didn’t get scared easily, but in that moment, he did. He was reacting before he even noticed, darting forward towards his friend and screaming,“_Jake!_”

Jake had collapsed like a sack of unwieldy, milkshake filled potatoes, but Steve managed to scramble to catch him at the very last second. At least enough so that his head didn’t hit the ground. But that just left Steve cradling his friend, with said friend almost comatose on the ground, only little gasps of pain escaping his mouth. And terrible, terrible gurgling sounds of stomach upset. Not dead, though, or unconscious, so it could be worse. 

“Jake! It’s alright, it’s gonna be okay,” Steve frantically rambled, grabbing his friend with both arms and holding him close, standing up. Every movement seemed to make things worse. But Steve had no choice; the medication was in the staff break room. So, Steve apologized as much as he could, and began the long walk towards his destination. The entire time, Jake giving tiny groans and holding both his stomach and his mouth.

“That’s what you get, you dumbass,” Steve whispered, but there was no heat to it, “I swear, one of these days you’re gonna get yourself killed without me here,” and Steve used his thumb to wipe off some of the whipped cream from Jake’s cheek. The pair walked past Scoops Ahoy, and as they did, Dustin blinked.

“Is... is he gonna be alright?” he turned to Robin. Robin glanced up.

“Oh. Oh, yeah, he’s fine,” she waved her hand in the air, “He’s just lactose intolerant.”

Somehow, that made things even more confusing than before. But Dustin just nodded, and went up to order himself a milkshake.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of the following comic by my friend: 


End file.
